Reading brain scans. Understanding human immune systems. Hands-on training in anesthesiology. These are just a few of the possibilities for experiential STEM learning in the years ahead for more than 300 Greater New Haven public school students — the newest cohort of Yale Pathways to Science — who gathered recently in Woolsey Hall for orientation.
What you need to know
What is Yale Pathways to Science?
Yale Pathways to Science supports Yale faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates in developing and executing STEM programs for public middle and high schoolers in New Haven, West Haven, and Orange, all at no cost. (Students are nominated for the program by their math or science teachers, or by a school administrator, and then apply for admission.)
How many programs are offered each year through Yale Pathways to Science?
Each year, Yale Pathways to Science facilitates Yale community members in hosting more than 250 events for students, spanning topics such as biology, chemistry, physics, and earth and climate science. Students select their level of engagement, registering for events depending on their schedules and interests. Throughout the year, Pathways to Science offers additional free events open to students not enrolled in the program.
Before the orientation began, the Schwarzman Center rotunda teemed with students and their families eagerly receiving welcome bags. Inside the hall, the room was full of anticipatory buzz and conversation, as families were greeted by Pathways staff and settled into their seats.
“Each year, there’s such incredible energy in Woolsey during this event,” said Maria Parente, associate director of public school partnerships and director of Yale Pathways. “That energy reflects the excitement these students feel entering a community of scientists and beginning a relationship with Yale.”
Since 2012, Yale Pathways to Science has supported Yale faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates in developing and executing STEM programs for public middle and high schoolers in New Haven, West Haven, and Orange, all at no cost. (Students are nominated for the program by their math or science teachers, or by a school administrator, and then apply for admission.)
Each year, Yale community members, in collaboration with Yale Pathways to Science, host more than 250 events for students — experiences that span topics such as biology, chemistry, physics, earth and climate science, and even, for rising seniors, the college application essay. Students select their level of engagement, registering for events depending on their schedules and interests. Some Pathways scholars participate in over 500 hours of Yale programming over the course of their experience.
Older Pathways students may also participate in an intensive, two-week summer program featuring hands-on STEM workshops. Throughout the year, Pathways to Science offers additional free events open to students not enrolled in the program. A related initiative, Pathways to Arts & Humanities, brings students to campus for workshops in art, literature, performance, and architecture. Both are part of the Office of New Haven Affairs’ broader slate of programming to support New Haven schools.
At the orientation in Woolsey Hall, students were introduced to some of the faculty members they might interact with over the next few years, as instructors or mentors, and heard about their own early explorations of science. “I wasn’t always this big and I didn’t always do science!” noted Nilay Hazari, the John Randolph Huffman Professor of Chemistry in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The programming offered by Pathways, he told them, gave them space to let their curiosities lead — and to understand that they also belong at Yale, helping produce and preserve knowledge.
Toward the end of the orientation, the newest Pathways Scholars were invited to stand. Across Woolsey Hall, students rose from their seats, to cheers and applause from parents, family members, and other supporters, all celebrating the start of a new journey into STEM.
